It's nothing a little (something) can't[won't] fix.
I saw this kind of sentences a lot recently but couldn't figure out how to understand those. At first thought, they seem to have meanings such as "(something)" is not gonna help at all because it's too naive, crude or improper way to do that. Am I right? Then again, if my interpretation was correct, wouldn't they violate Double Negation rule? I mean, why don't you use like "It's something a little soap and water can't fix" or "It's nothing a little soap and water can fix"?
Best Answer
Consider these two sentences
This implies that the thing can not be fixed by plastic surgery.
This implies that the thing can be fixed by plastic surgery.
In this case, nothing can be stated as the opposite of “something”, or as “not a thing”. And so when “something” can be fixed, “nothing” cannot.
Next, consider these two other sentences, which both have nothing in them.
This implies that plastic surgery can not fix it, as it states it is “not a thing” that plastic surgery can fix.
At last, we arrive at the sentence given. If we “expand” out this sentence, we get
And if we “cancel” out the ‘not’s’, we get